{"id":868332,"date":"2026-08-25T22:20:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T22:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/868332\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T22:20:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T22:20:17","slug":"dolly-parton-dies-aged-80-country-music-legends-family-announces-passing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/868332\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton dies aged 80: Country music legend\u2019s family announces passing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Updated August 26, 2026 \u2014 5:43am,first published 4:12am<\/p>\n

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Dolly Parton, the singer-songwriter, literacy advocate and cultural icon whose wit, beauty and musicality shaped country music for more than six decades has died, aged 80.<\/p>\n

The country music legend\u2019s nephew Bryan Seaver confirmed Parton\u2019s passing on behalf of her family. An official cause of death has not been released, but shortly prior to her death it is understood she was hospitalised for kidney and autoimmune issues.<\/p>\n

Parton\u2019s music was rich and tender, exploring her impoverished childhood in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, and the familiar country music touchstones of love, heartache and regret. They include songs like Jolene, I Will Always Love You and the theme of her most successful film, 9 to 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have imagined the heaviness of this moment, but haven\u2019t truly felt it until now,\u201d Seaver said in a statement on behalf of the Parton family. \u201cDolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by [her late husband] Carl, her parents, and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the acknowledged titans of country music, Parton received 11 Grammy Awards and three Emmy Awards, one Oscar (and two Oscar nominations), and nominations for six Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony award. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was the recipient of the US National Medal of Arts and a Kennedy Centre Honour.<\/p>\n

\u201cDolly opened doors not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn\u2019t even know was possible,\u201d Seaver said. \u201cDolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians, and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent. By her example, we believe that anything was possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DollyDolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda arrive for the premiere of their film \u201c9 To 5\u201d in New York on December 14, 1980.AP Photo\/Richard Drew<\/p>\n

The legendary singer \u201cnever saw a door she couldn\u2019t open, and the door she opened made and changed history,\u201d Seaver said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you,\u201d he said. \u201cShe has always been on your television, your record player, your CD, and on your phone playlist, becoming an extended part of your family, whether you liked it or not. Our family and the team she has entrusted with her legacy will work diligently to ensure her spirit will live with us forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump acknowledged Parton\u2019s legacy, saying: \u201cThis is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will.\u201d Trump said US flags would be lowered across the country on government buildings for a week.<\/p>\n

Parton\u2019s friend, actress Jane Fonda, with whom she co-starred in 9 to 5, said that despite the grief \u201cmore than anyone I have ever known, Dolly will always be with us because she was so present, so powerful, so generous and playful that she is woven into all our lives and hearts forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have our memories of her, her songs, [the theme park] Dollywood, 9 to 5, the millions of books she got into the hands of children, all the iconic images that bring her to us,\u201d Fonda said. \u201cAnd they are all blessings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese also paid tribute to Parton, saying it was \u201chard to imagine the world without her. A singer and songwriter of rare power and talent, she also shone brightly as an actor, author and philanthropist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DollyDolly Parton on stage in 1976.Redferns<\/p>\n

Albanese said the \u201cradiant heart of the Dolly universe was a personality as strong as it was compassionate, a vivacious woman of great humour and a sense of humanity sustained in no small part by the humble strength of her roots.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Australian PM said one of \u201cthe joys\u201d of being prime minister was that he helped Parton cut administrative red tape to get her tour bus on Australian roads for her 2011 tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a magical experience meeting her,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are a lot of broken hearts in Australia and across the world today. Wherever you are, turn your stereo or your phone to Dolly then turn the volume up. May the great Dolly Parton rest in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singing legend Dionne Warwick was among the first to pay tribute to Parton. \u201cDolly, a true child of God, is in the best hands now,\u201d Warwick said in a statement. \u201cI will certainly miss her laugher, jokes and her being. Rest well and in total peace my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DollyDolly Parton with Lily Tomlin (left) and Jane Fonda (right) in 9 to 5.20th Century Fox <\/p>\n

Another country legend, Reba McEntire, thanked Parton \u201cfor all the wonderful things you did for us here on Earth. Your love, your music and you gave so much with your huge, huge heart. There will never ever be another you\u201d. Miley Cyrus described it as a \u201cdevastating day for humanity\u201d.<\/p>\n

And producer\/singer Seth McFarlane, who had worked with her, said Parton was \u201cexactly the person we all hoped she was. Her kindness, generosity, and authenticity were evident from moment one, and the benign yet assured command she maintained over her empire was obvious from the genuine love and trust you could see from everyone who worked for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River in Pittman Centre, Tennessee. It would seem a world away from the life she would eventually lead, but it was world that Parton brought to life through her songs.<\/p>\n

Mournful ballads like My Tennessee Mountain Home, and Coat of Many Colours. In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad) she sang: \u201cNo amount of money could buy from me \/ the memories that I have of then \/ No amount of money could pay me \/ To go back and live through it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parton was the fourth of 12 children born to Avie Lee Caroline and Robert Lee Parton Sr. To her mother, Parton always credited her musical prowess. And to her father, her business acumen. If true, she owed them both a great debt; her artistic and commercial success was almost without equal.<\/p>\n

\"DollyDolly Parton and Kenny Rogers rehearse a song for their appearance on the TV show \u201cLive… And in Person\u201d in Los Angeles on September 27, 1983.AP Photo\/Doug Pizac<\/p>\n

In 1973 and 1974, she would write and release two songs that would become her most successful: Jolene, about a woman confronted with the reality of the woman whose beauty (and fierce red hair) was powerful enough to steal the love of her life from her, and I Will Always Love You, about a farewell penned in the aftermath of a broken relationship.<\/p>\n

The latter of the two would become even more famous because it was recorded and released by other artists. Parton famously declined a request for Elvis Presley to record a cover, after his management asked for half the royalties on the song. And Whitney Houston\u2019s release, from the soundtrack of her film The Bodyguard, would become a money-spinner for Parton. Houston was paid the performer royalty, but as the songwriter Parton took the lion\u2019s share of the revenue. \u201cShe can have the credit, I\u2019ll just take the cash,\u201d Parton joked in 2018.<\/p>\n

The success of those songs was part of a mainstream crossover that, at the time, was bold. Country music very much lived in its channel and few if any artists could step between it and mainstream pop. But Parton\u2019s conquest of the music charts would blaze a trail that others could follow.<\/p>\n

That might be Parton\u2019s greatest legacy: that she did, so others could follow. Dolly is the reason we have Garth Brooks, Shania Twain and Taylor Swift on the pop charts. She is why Post Malone and Beyonc\u00e9 could walk the same path, but in reverse. And she is the reason we have genuinely evolutionary artists like Orville Peck.<\/p>\n

In a tender footnote, Seaver said that in death Parton\u2019s connection to the land was as potent as her father\u2019s. \u201cDolly was a farmer, just like her daddy. He farmed the soil, she farmed songs and happiness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Seaver said Parton\u2019s request was that she \u201crest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest\u201d.<\/p>\n

Parton\u2019s husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, passed away in March 2025. She is survived by six of her siblings, Willadeene, Bobby, Stella, Cassie, Freida and Rachel.<\/p>\n

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\"MichaelMichael Idato<\/a> is the culture editor-at-large of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated August 26, 2026 \u2014 5:43am,first published 4:12am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":868333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-868332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/868333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}